Victorious first match for Chivas USA

CARSON, Calif. (Saturday, January 26, 2013) – Chivas USA defeated UC Irvine Saturday morning, 4-1, in its first preseason scrimmage of the 2013 camp at The Home Depot Center’s Track and Field. The Rojiblancos pulled away from UCI with three second-half goals. Forward Jose Correa put the Goats ahead in the first half on Edgar Mejia’s assist. UCI answered back with a Cameron Iwasa goal. Tristan Bowen gave the Goats the lead back with a tap-in, and Rodrigo Lopez and Ben Zemanski knocked in the second and third unanswered goals for the Red-and-White.

· Chivas USA’s next scrimmage will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. (PT) at The Home Depot Center’s Field 6 against Santa Clarita Storm.

The Rojiblancos pushed their numbers forward from the opening whistle. Midfielder Jorge Villafaña crossed a pass near the left sideline to Mejia, who gathered the entry and slid the ball into the box to the cutting Correa who beat the UCI goalkeeper to his right in the 10th minute.

The Anteaters evened the score in the 29th minute on a free kick outside the penalty area near the left sideline. Midfielder Enrique Cardenas served the ball into the short area where Iwasa´s header bounced inside the right post.

Chivas USA came out in the second half with an entire new line-up and pulled away on three consecutive goals. In the 68th minute, Eric Avila found a cutting Bowen inside the 18-yard box, who was able to fight off a defender on his back to beat the UCI ‘keeper. Three minutes later, Lopez headed in an assist from midfielder Laurent Courtois from the right side of the box.

In the 77th minute, midfielder Ben Zemanski gave the Red-and-White the three-goal advantage with his strike from 25 yard out to put the exclamation point on the 4-1 win.

Chivas USA will kick off its ninth season when it hosts the Columbus Crew at The Home Depot Center for First Kick 2013 on Saturday, March 2, beginning at 7:30 p.m. PT. Ticket packs are available for as little as $10 per ticket. For more information please call 1-877-CHIVAS-1. Follow us on Twitter @cdchivasusa and Facebook.com/chivasusa.